Michael Dean : Weblog items tagged with tax

New Labour are making a real big deal about the opposition to increases in the NI

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:59:08 GMT

New Labour are making a real big deal about the opposition to increases in the NI. It should be obvious to them that we need as many jobs in the UK as possible and that increasing taxes on jobs is not the best thing to do!

And the jobs need to be in the private sector. Public sector jobs are paid for by our taxes. Every new public sector job increases the UK debt levels!

But Brown, New Labour and Mandelson seem to be unable to cope with any criticism of their plans. It comes over as a 'matter of principle' that Labour will not accept any criticism even if it is obvious to most that Labour is wrong!

This just reinforces the fact that New Labour, and Brown, have dealt with the UK economy so very well that the UK is in deep trouble. We now have huge debts. We are now facing huge tax increases in almost every aspect of our lives.

We now cannot afford to maintain most public services.

We couldn't afford the salt in the winter and now the roads are falling apart and will cost billions to repair! What crazy logic from this government stopped them from buying enough salt, which really was the cheap option!, even though they knew road surfaces would be seriously damaged by the freezing temperatures. It might save a million or two now, but will cost hundreds of millions over the next few years.

When Brown promises to ring fence an NHS service, then that means the other NHS services will be cut! If they were not at risk of being cut then there would be no need to ring fence certain services!

I want to see a government in power which is prepared to govern for the benefit of the UK and NOT to spend all their efforts trying to maintain their own positions in government!

The fact that Brown refuses to release the financial data for the UK means several things:

He is hiding the size of the financial mess that he has put the UK into.
He is trying to stop the opposition from making their plans for government.

Brown is able to attack the opposition by claiming that they don't have the finances right. We would not know if the opposition is right or wrong, since we do not know the figures either!

On the other hand we don't know if Brown is right or wrong, since he does not reveal the figures that his policies are based on!

'bonus culture' is inherently dishonest!

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:25:23 GMT

Once upon a time, bonuses were paid as an addition to the salary if the performance of the individual, or perhaps the team, exceeded the job specification and targets that were part of the job.

Basically, if a worker actually does his/her job properly then they would not get a bonus. Why not? Because they did the job that they were paid for.

Nowdays, there are too many companies where the bosses get paid huge bonuses for achieving targets that are little more than their job specification. They get large salaries for doing their job, and then get large bonuses for doing their job.

This is not the same as those workers who get minimal salaries and whose earnings are based on their efforts and their performance. The commission structure generally means that these workers do get rewarded for the efforts that they put in.

Unfortunately we have seen a massive increase in this this greedy bonus culture amongst state sector organisations. Our taxes are being used to pay massive bonuses for those running these organisations.

We need to stop these greedy bosses from abusing the people of the UK who do not want their taxes being used to pay bonuses on top of the huge salaries these greedy people are getting!

Tax on you and all your houses!

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:32:00 GMT

What are New Labour proposing?

The Mail on Sunday has details of a new tax on anyone who lives in a house, unless there are no redeeming features at all of the house or the view from the house!

William III introduced a window tax in 1696 . Glass was the equivalent of a good view or local amenities, but the principle is the same.

Charles Stuart II introduced a Hearth or Fireplace Tax in 1662. The tax had to be paid for each fireplace in a property.

The significance of this new New Labour tax is that it is not based on absolutes, At least the Kings of old actually taxed something that was useful to the householder!

You may not like the view from your house. You may be fed up with the bus stop outside your gate because of the noise at night and the mess left around your gate. But you will still have to pay this tax!

We already pay council tax on our poperties, the amount paid depends upon the value of the propety in question. But the factors that determine the value of a house include the size of the house, the area the house is in, the views from the house, the presence of patios and conservatories, garages and the availability of parking.

In fact the new envy tax from New Labour is based on many of the factors that establish the council tax band.

This is a second tax on top of the council. We are being taxed TWICE for the same property assets!

No wonder New Labour like this tax! Right down their street!

the creeping menace of the ID card system

Sun, 17 May 2009 22:25:38 GMT

All the promises of this government that their ID cards scheme is important and safe are slowly falling apart, even before the ID scheme gets going!

When an ID card is used to verify a purchase or an identity, this fact is recorded on the Big Brother computers.

We have already had the tax office saying that they are going to use these computer records and match them to the person's tax record to pick up anomolies. This means that they are looking for where the person's income appears to be at odds with their pattern of expenditure.

If they are willing to do this then is is a small step for other actions!

Perhaps they could refuse the transaction on the grounds that people have outstanding tax bills, penalty tickets, etc. and they want to stop them spending their money on other things.

Perhaps the tax office, the social services, the company that issued a penalty ticket, etc. could simply refuse the transaction but divert the payment to where they want it to be!